Diced mixed preparations are commonly used in cuisine. They consist of a mixture of several fruits or vegetables. The largest fruits or vegetables are generally diced, so as to offer a preparation comprised of items of uniform size.
There are known food processing apparatuses, capable of cutting fruits or vegetables into pieces, including dicing or cubing. These apparatuses typically include a knife that cuts slices of food to be processed. Each slice is then applied to a grating disc with two sets of parallel blades, the blades having a cutting edge facing the slice. Pressure is exerted on the slice in the direction of the blades, which ensures that said slice is diced. Such a food processing apparatus is described in patent FR2548573.
In the prior art, it is traditional that the diced food is ejected from the grating disc by introducing a new slice to be cut. After finished using the apparatus, the diced food formed by cutting the last slice therefore remains in the space between the blades of the grating disc. Also, when cutting, lumps of food debris forms on some parts of the grating disc.
Cleaning such a grating disc then requires relatively long and tedious work, aimed at clearing scraps of cut food from the blades of the grating disc. Such a cleaning step can cost the user of the machine a significant amount of time.
To eject the diced vegetables from between the blades, it is known to use comb-like accessories. Such combs have teeth whose shape is substantially complementary to the spaces delineated by the blades of the grating disc. Said teeth are sized and spaced so as to be simultaneously inserted into said spaces delineated by the blades of the grating disc. The diced vegetables are then expelled from the grating disc by the teeth of the comb.
However, a user must often try several times to insert the teeth of the comb between the blades of the grating disc. The blades may come up against the end of the teeth. When the surface of the grating disc is covered with lumps of food debris, the user has difficulty seeing the blades, and it is even more difficult to correctly position the comb.